Turned up this morning to work on a farmer's gas tank and as I pulled into the farm Yard this was the sight that I was met with.
The cockpit of a Vulcan Bomber, together with a full fuselage of a Lightning jet.
Naturally the wee boy in me came out & asked if I could climb into the belly of the beast & up into the cockpit which was granted.
Turns out the farmer is an enthusiast and is restoring them back to what they were to show off at air shows etc, he had the full history of the aircraft where it had served etc and its last crew, I forgot the number of the aircraft but the name given to this one was Cecilia.
I have to say that I was amazed at the cramp conditions the crew had for such a large aircraft, the once nuclear bomber of the RAF.
You jammy devil I would have loved to sit in that. Don't know if you've heard but the last flying Vulcan is to be retired soon, there was a massive fundraising campaign a few years back to get it into the air but it has now got to the point where it is no longer viable.
ReplyDeleteRob a childhood dream ever since I seen the Vulcan as a kid, If ever your up this neck of the woods let me know I can arrange to have a visit, the farmer is very open and willing to let anyone interested have a look over it.
ReplyDeleteCheers George
ReplyDeleteHave you read Vulcan 607, about the Black Buck mission to bomb Port Stanley, if not you really should it is excellent
I have read it Chris a cracking read
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Bob!!
DeleteI remember standing dumbstruck at an airshow in Germany in the sixties as a Vulcan made a slow pass then opened everything up and soared into the sky. The noise was incredible! There were also lightnings there pulling their famous straight up into the sky like a rocket stunt. Truly a memorable experience. I have a mate, ex RAF who lives in Cumbria and has a lightning in his back garden.
ReplyDeleteI can always remember visiting an airshow as a kid and the Starfighters making a high speed pass, they about popped my little ear drums!
DeleteThey used to call Starfighters 'Widow Makers'. Then there were the Jaguars. The joke in the RAF was if you wanted to own a Jaguar, go and buy an acre of Scotland. If the wingman had followed him in, you'd get two for the price of one (some assembly needed).
DeleteIt is a great read. I came across it just last month and was enthralled. Heard it on Radio 4 first though — rifling spares from junkyards! Make do and mend, old chap!
ReplyDeleteThe racket those old jets make is just astonishing isn't it? Southend Airshow just a few years back there was a hovering harrier a hundred yards out from the beach. I was five hundred yards away but the sound actually made my brains cells hurt!